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Latha Venkatraman

Reality shows not only bring in higher ratings, but also rake in the moolah for channels like Sony and ESPN Star Sports.

Ahead of the big final for Indian Idol, a notice board at the entrance to a housing colony in a Mumbai suburb urged residents to vote for Abhijit Sawant, one of the show's finalists. Elsewhere, the vote was for Amit Sana. Over and above the hype created by Sony Entertainment Television (SET) through SMS messages and hoardings at Mumbai's suburban railway stations and on buses, television viewers across the country were driving up support for the two contestants.

The buzz around Indian Idol was obviously across the cable and satellite world in India. In far away Uttaranchal, tourists were huddled before a television set at a four-star hotel in Dehradun.

Indian Idol finally found its winner in Abhijit Sawant. More important, SET's decision to go in for a reality show has not only brought in higher ratings, but also probably paid off monetarily too.

Another reality programme drawing a lot of interest, though not to the extent of Indian Idol, is Harsha Ki Khoj on ESPN Star Sports. The `khoj' or search is for a cricket commentator for the channel. While the winner of Indian Idol gains celebrity status and a monetary windfall, Harsha Ki Khoj offers a short burst at a new career — cricket compering.

Says Padamjeet Sherawat, one of the four finalists in Harsha Ki Khoj, "I feel confident because I have played the game at quite important levels in domestic cricket. And I love talking about the game." He has played for the Ranji and Deodhar Trophy and is already into compering. Although the jury eliminated him in the live-commentary round in Bangladesh, he was reinstated into the race thanks to SMS voting.

The other finalists are: Manish Vallicha, a compere and radio jockey from Mumbai; Anand Narasimhan, a media planner from Bangalore; and Puneet Pal Singh, who runs a cybercafe in Shimla.

The jury on Indian Idol — Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam — exhibited histrionics while selecting candidates; on the other hand, the jury on Harsha Ki Khoj — Harsha Bhogle, Wasim Akram, Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal, John Dykes, Darain Shahidi, Jason Dasey and Perizaad Zorabian — was completely businesslike, serious and critical. In our cricket-crazy country, it is no surprise that ESPN Star Sports received 44,000 entries through telephone. The jury members covered six cities over five weeks, auditioned over 750 contestants and chose 32 finalists.

The contestants' skill and potential as sports broadcasters were on test. "Also on test were their creative skills, and an ability to handle broadcasting crises, which presenters are likely to face when they are live on air," says an ESPN spokesperson. The contestants put up a brave front during a round of mock live commentary, with some of them opting for an informal look.

But ESPN appears to have scored good ratings with the Premier Hockey League (PHL) series. The channel is pushing for hockey as a means to go beyond cricket. In a genre crowded with too many players, sports broadcasters have been forced to up the costs of acquiring cricket telecast rights to stay alive.

But ESPN Star Sports, which sees itself as a long-term player in India, probably sees opportunity in hockey. "India had a glorious past in hockey, which is a mass game," says an ESPN official.

The channel believes that PHL was conceptualised to develop a league that would have all the ingredients necessary to attract viewers to the game. "Hockey has been presented to Indian TV viewers in a never-before format and viewers have followed the evening games closely," says the ESPN official. Most importantly, advertisers have warmed up to the idea. Finally, at the end of the day, PHL did get a large number of viewers hooked on.

Picture by R.V. Moorthy

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